Before I close this chapter, I must tell you something about the colonial troops of France. Just as we form native armies in our overseas possessions, so the French make soldiers of the black and brown races in their colonies. Their chief colony is Algeria, in North Africa; but they also rule over Morocco, and have large possessions in West Africa and in Indo-China. The French colonial troops are chiefly Arabs and Berbers from Algeria, Moors from Morocco, and Senegambians from Senegal. The native troops of Algeria are known as Turcos and Spahis.[6] The Turcos are chiefly Berbers,[7] and they are trained on the same lines as the Zouaves. The most picturesque of all the native troops of France are the Spahis, who are mainly Arabs mounted on white Arab steeds. The Arabs are a fiercely warlike people, and France conquered them only after a long struggle. They are Mohammedans, who believe that death in battle is a sure passport to heaven. [Illustration: Arab Cavalry (Spahis) at the Front. _Photo, Underwood and Underwood._] The Spahi is as much at home on horseback as the cowboy of the prairies, the Cossack of the steppes, or the Hungarian of the plains. As a light horseman he has few superiors. Each man wears on his head a white felt cap covered by a _haick_, or long strip of woollen gauze which hangs flat at the back of the head, covering the neck and shoulders. The haick is attached to the cap by twenty or thirty twisted coils of camel's-hair rope, and a fringe of it is allowed to fall on the forehead to shade the eyes. The body garment, or _gandoura_, is a gown of white woollen material, bound round the waist with a broad silk sash. Over all is worn a hooded cloak, or _burnous_, which is usually made of white or fine blue cloth. Red leather top-boots complete the costume. Many of the men are very tall and of a strikingly noble cast of feature. They carry themselves with great dignity, and are very grave and sparing of speech. Their love for their horses has been the subject of many a song and story. * * * * * Never before in the history of warfare have so many men, of such widely differing races, creeds, and colours, been gathered together into such an army as that which is upholding the cause of the Allies on the fields of France and Flanders. When the Romans were masters of Britain they garrisoned the Great Wall from the Tyne to the Solway with men from nearly all the countries of Europe; but the motley array which then struggled to beat back the "slim" Pict cannot compare for a moment with the medley of races now under arms in the western theatre of war.